It is now December and 2019 is almost over. The holidays are quickly approaching and the fall semester is wrapping up. I am looking forward to having a little time between the semesters so I can get a few projects done at work since the library is only open 4 hours a day between semesters. In the spring I’ll be teaching a class on Canvas and it is basically to show students how to properly do research for their papers. It’s only a 1 credit class and many of the students take it during their last semesters when they only need 1 credit to graduate. Although they should be taking it during their first semester so they know how to find better sources for their papers. There are so many students that after the class ends that say, “I wish I would have known that sooner.” I’m going to try to see if I can make that happen. This Friday I have a meeting with the woman that leads CSN’s First Year Experience program and I’m going to see if there is something that we can do to better help these students be more successful during their time at CSN. I actually have 4 meetings this Friday, almost more than I’ve had for the rest of the semester all piled into a few hours on the last day (Friday the 13th, no less).
There are so many things that I am trying to accomplish. I am part of the OER (Open Educational Resources task-force) and I’m trying to get more CSN faculty to use OER materials in their classes. Not only is this a low/no cost option, but students have access to the materials as soon as the semester starts instead of having to wait for financial aid to come through and the purchasing the books when the semester has already started a couple weeks before hand and they are struggling to catch up. I applied to do a program where I would be getting a certificate in OER Librarianship. The program is a yearlong and I would travel to Minneapolis during spring break for a conference. I am hoping that I get accepted but I will find out in a few days.
Over the last couple months I have been sleeping terrible. I’m blaming this on traveling to conferences during the fall, but I would have thought that my sleep schedule would have been back on track by this point, but it isn’t. I don’t have any issues falling asleep. I have issues staying asleep. This hasn’t always been a problem for me, so I’m not sure why I’ve been struggling with it so much for the last few months. A few days ago my husband gave me an early Christmas present, which is a weighted blanket. I have heard several of my friends talk about how amazing they are for a couple years now. I put it on my bed a couple nights ago, but I have to say that I didn’t notice much of a difference in the way I slept. I was reading online and it said that it might take a week or so to get used to it, so hopefully once I do get used to it I will sleep much better. Crossing my fingers.
Next fall I’m planning on starting my second master’s program. It will be in Urban Leadership. Basically many things that I already do as a Librarian. The program is at UNLV and is only supposed to take 15 months to complete. Once I’m done I will get a $10K a year pay bump and because I work for NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) and UNLV is a NSHE school, I don’t have to pay to do this which is a HUGH bonus. Hopefully before I start this program I’ll figure out how to sleep again.